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INFORMATION 


IN  REGARD 
TO 

CORN  CLUBS 

FOR 


ALABAMA  BOYS 


ISSUED  BY 

THE  DEPARTMENT  OF  EDUCATION 
1910 


MOWN  PTO.  CO.  MONTGOMERY,  ALA. 


To  County  Superintendents  a?id  Teachers: 

The  State  Department  of  Education  feels  that  it  is 
doing  a service  to  the  boys  and  girls  of  Alabama  in 
issuing  this  circular.  The  time  has  come  in  Alabama 
when  if  we  would  get  the  most  from  that  which 
God  has  given  us  in  our  soil  the  boys  and  the  girls 
must  be  taught  to  love  the  farm,  to  love  the  soil  and 

to  try  to  get  the  best  out  of  the  soil  that  nature  hap 

\ 

put  in  it. 

I am  including  in  this  pamphlet  a short  article 
which  I prepared  as  a result  of  my  investigation  in 
a recent  trip  through  the  Middle  West.  I trust  that 
from  it  the  superintendents  and  teachers  of  Alabama 
will  get  inspiration. 

The  other  material  in  the  pamphlet  was  prepared 
by  Prof.  L.  N.  Duncan  of  the  Alabama  Polytechnic 
Institute,  Auburn,  Alabama,  who  is  working  in  con- 
nection with  the  United  States  Department  of  Agri- 
culture in  an  effort  to  encourage  the  organization  of 
Boy’s  Corn  Clubs  in  the  State  of  Alabama.  Any  in- 
formation will  be  furnished  by  Prof.  Duncan  and  he 
will  also  be  glad  to  supply  these  pamphlets. 


Yours  very  truly. 


/.  ■ - 


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INTRODUCTION. 


The  1900  Census  report  shows  that  the  people  of 
Alabama  engaged  in  gainful  occupation  are  distrib- 
uted as  follows: 


Professional  services 

Trade  and;  transportation 

Manufacturing  and  mechanical. 
Domestic  and  personal  service. 
Agricultural  pursuits 


- 2 % 
- 6.7% 
.10.3% 
.13.4% 
.67.6% 


This  shows  that  a large  per  cent  of  our  people  in 
j Alabama  are  making  a living  by  farming  and  that 
I all  other  occupations  sink  into  insignificance  when 
.compared  with  agriculture.  The  very  location,  cli- 
I mate  and  soil  of  Alabama  make  it  essentially  an  ag- 
ricultural State.  Any  effort,  therefore,  on  the  part 
of  the  schools,  colleges  and  educational  forces  to 
j educate  the  people  along  agricultural  lines  and  to 
improve  farming  methods,  will  directly  increase  the 
earning  capacity  of  the  only  producing  class  and 
hence  largely  benefit  the  whole  people. 

For  many  years  agriculture  was  not  taught  in  our 
schools  because  it  was  thought  that  there  was  noth- 
jing  to  learn  about  farming,  that  the  various  subjects 
[along  agricultural  lines  had  no  educational  value, 
[that  culture  could  not  be  obtained  by  a study  of  the 
.origin  and  formulation  of  soils,  of  how  the  plants 
[live  and  grow,  and  of  the  different  kinds  of  animals 
|and  how  they  are  fed.  Now,  however,  the  idea  that 
time  properly  spent  on  these  subjects  will  give  as 
much  mental  discipline  as  the  same  amount  of  time 
spent  on  other  subjects  of  the  school  curricula  is 
rapidly  gaining  ground,  and  agriculture  has  a funda- 
[tnental  place  in  the  courses  of  study  of  practically  all 
|3f  our  schools. 

1 Again  in  the  Census  report  for  1900,  we  learn  that 
)f  the  20,685,427  acres  of  farm  lands  in  Alabama  only 
n.8%.  or  less  than  half,  is  improved  and  under  cul- 
ivation.  It  is  one  of  the  problems  of  agricultural 
[iducation  to  aid  in  the  development  of  the  other 
ii8.2%  of  this  farming  land,  as  well  as  to  see  that  bet- 
er  methods  are  used  on  the  farms  under  cultivation, 

3 


The  1909  Crop  Report  shows  that  Alabama  produced 
a total  of  43,646,000  bushels  of  corn  on  3,233,000  acres 
of  land,  or  an  average  of  only  13.5  bushels  per  acre, 
valued  at  37,099,000  dollars.  This  made  it  necessary 
for  Alabama  to  purchase  approximately  11,000,000 
bushels  of  corn  for  1909.  Corn  is  the  main  food  sup- 
ply on  the  farm,  and  if  the  farmer  has  sufficient  corn 
he  will  also  raise  his  meat,  and  an  ample  supply  of 
these  two  food  articles  on  the  farm  therefore  indi- 
cates thrift  and  prosperity  in  any  community.  It  is 
a well  established  fact  that  no  agricultural  section  can 
prosper  as  it  should  and  purchase  a large  amount  of 
its  main  food  supply.  With  a little  better  preparation 
of  the  soil,  better  seed,  more  intelligent  use  of  ferti- 
lizers and’  better  cultivation  of  the  crop,  it  would  be 
an  easy  matter  to  double  the  yield  of  corn  in  Ala- 
bama, and  thereby  increase  the  wealth  of  the  farmers , 
of  the  State  37,099,000  dollars  annually  from  corn  _ 
alone.  j 

OBJECTS  OF  THE  CORN  CLUB  MOVEMENT.  ’ 

The  objects  of  organizing  the  boys  under  twenty- 1 
one  years  old  in  Alabama  into  Corn  Clubs  are  to  in-s 
crease  the  production  of  corn,  to  improve  the  seed, 
to  aid  the  farmer  in  better  methods  of  cultivation, 
and  a more  intelligent  use  of  fertilizers,  to  increase; 
the  interest  of  the  farm  boys  in  agriculture,  and  to^ 
encourage  them  to  get  an  education  along  agricultural! 
lines  and  remain  on  the  farm.  Of  course  arousing  in-^. 
terest  in  one  crop  will  lead  to  similar  lines  of  work^ 
with  other  crops  and  will  ultimately  result  in  more; 
careful  study  of  methods  with  all  lines  of  farming. 
This  will  lead  to  increased  production  on  the  farm 
and  will  lay  the  foundations  for  better  schools,  better 
roads,  better  churches,  improvement  of  the  social  life 
in  the  rural  districts  and  a more  contented  and  happy 
people. 

PLAN  OF  ORGANIZATION 

As  this  work  is  an  educational  matter  it  is  our  pur- 
pose to  secure  and  promote  co-operation  of  the  county 
superintendents,  teachers  and  schools.  It  is  hoped 

4 


and  urged,  therefore,  that  every  county  superintend- 
ent will  become  interested  in  this  and  that  every 
teacher  will  see  that  several  boys  in  each  school  and 
community  are  members  of  some  Corn  Club  . 

It  has  been  found  best  in  most  cases  to  enlist  the 
interest  of  the  county  superintendent  and  secure  a 
list  of  all  the  teachers  in  the  county  where  the  work 
is  undertaken.  A letter  is  then  addressed  to  each  of 
these  teachers  requesting  the  names  of  boys  who  are 
interested  in  the  movement. 

The  main  work  for  the  present  will  be  with  corn. 
In  each  county  where  the  work  is  undertaken  prizes 
will  be  offered  to  the  boy  growing  the  greatest  num- 
ber of  bushels  per  acre  and  also  to  the  boy  exhibit- 
ing, at  a meeting  in  the  fall,  the  ten  best  ears  of 
corn.  Prizes  for  each  county  will  be  announced  to 
the  boys  as  soon  as  the  money  for  the  prizes  is  con- 
tributed. 

No  particular  method  of  culture  will  be  prescribed 
but  plenty  of  literature  on  the  best  methods  of  corn 
raising  will  be  furnished  the  boys  from  time  to  time. 

WHO  MAY  BECOME  MEMBERS. 

It  is  our  desire  to  have  every  boy,  not  over  twenty- 
one  years  old  and  large  enough  to  work  on  the  farm, 
becomes  a member  of  the  Corn  Club  in  the  community 
where  this  work  is  started.  We  wish  especially  to 
have  boys  who  live  on  the  farm  engaged  in  this  work, 
or  if  a man  owns  a farm  and  lives  in  town  his  son 
may  also  become  a member,  or  if  a boy  has  no  land 
and  has  enough  interest  in  the  work  to  rent  the  land 
and  enter  the  club,  we  shall  be  glad  to  have  him 
also. 


BOYS’  CORN  CLUBS. 

By  Harry  C.  Gunnels,  Superintendent  of  Education 
of  Alabama. 

' During  a recent  trip  of  the  Southern  States  Super- 
intendents of  Education  through  the  Middle  West  in 
j an  endeavor  to  study  the  work  of  the  rural  schools 
i as  this  work  relates  to  rural  life,  I was  asked  to 
! 5 


make  an  especial  study  of  the  accomplishment  of 
Boys’  Corn  Clubs. 

In  making  this  rapid  study,  I had  in  mind  the 
question  as  to  whether  the  organization  of  these 
clubs  as  they  exist  in  Iowa,  Minnesota,  Wisconsin  and 
other  states  of  the  Middle  West,  could'  be  made  ap- 
plicable to  conditions  in  the  southern  states,  and  es- 
pecially to  Alabama. 

The  great  awakening  of  a sentiment  among  all 
classes  of  people  towards  an  education  looking  to  the 
betterihent  of  our  farms  and  of  our  rural  conditions 
makes  the  study  of  any  question  relating  to  farm  life 
and  farm  work  a pleasant  one. 

The  State  of  Iowa  is  in  many  respects — in  size, 
nature  of  soil,  mineral  products  and  in  other  things, 
similar  to  Alabama.  Climatic  conditions  in  Alabama 
are  far  superior.  The  seasons  are  longer. 

It  occurred  to  me,  therefore,  that  there  must  be  a 
reason  for  the  fact  that  in  Iowa  from  seventy-five  to 
one  hundred  and  twenty  bushels  of  corn  are  made  on 
an  acre  while  in  Alabama,  on  soil  equally  as  good, 
with  climatic  conditions  much  better,  there  is  a yield 
of  twenty-five  or  thirty  bushels  per  acre,  I could 
not  help  thinking  that  there  must  be  a reason  why 
farm  lands  in  Iowa  are  worth  from  $100  to  $300  an 
acre  while  lands  equally  as  valuable  for  farming  pur- 
poses in  Alabama  can  be  purchased  for  $20.00  or 
$30.00  per  acre. 

la  seemed  to  me  that  there  must  be  a reason  for 
the  prosperous  condition  of  the  farmers  in  the  Middle 
West.  If  a farmer  with  a small  farm  purchased  at 
$250  per  acre  in  Iowa,  on  credit  perhaps,  can  have  an 
elegant  home,  educate  his  children,  dash  around  the 
country  in  an  automobile,  why  can  not  such  condi- 
tions exist  in  the  South — in  Alabama. 

In  my  study  of  this  question,  I came  to  the  conclu- 
sion that  the  prosperous  condition  of  this  Western 
section  of  our  country — the  granary  of  the  world — is 
the  direct  result  of  a system  of  education  which  from 
the  kindergarten  almost  has  had  for  its  object  the  in- 
culcating in  the  minds  of  tlie  bays,  and  of  the  girls, 
that  there  is  a dignity  in  labor,  that  there  is  no  dis- 
grace in  working  on  the  farm,  that  farm  life  is  the 
6 


most  pleasant  of  all  life,  that  more  money  can  be 
made  by  raising  corn  and  wheat  than  in  selling  rib- 
bons and  pins,  that  the  girl  has  more  freedom  in 
looking  after  dairy  and  can  make  more  money  for 
herself  than  she  can  by  doing  clerical  work  in  some 
city  office,  and  that  above  all  by  putting  the  same 
amount  of  brains  into  the  soil — into  the  actual  work 
of  the  farm  life — greater  returns  in  every  way  can 
be  brought  about 

One  of  the  organizations  which  my  investigation 
disclosed  as  a potent  factor  in  this  line  of  endeavor  is 
what  is  known  as  the  Boys’  Corn  Clubs.  These  clubs 
exist  in  almost  all  the  rural  schools  in  Iowa,  Wis- 
consin, Minnesota  and  the  other  corn  growing  states. 
I discovered  that  an  enthusiasm  and  an  interest  and  a 
rivalry  existed  which  naturally  brought  about  the 
very  best  results. 

A farmer  in  Iowa  told  me  that  six  years  ago  he 
was  making  an  average  of  forty  bushels  of  corn  per 
acre.  A Boys’  Corn  Club  was  organized  in  the  district 
school.  His  fourteen  year  old  boy  came  to  him  and 
asked  for  an  acre  of  land  upon  which  to  make  his  ex- 
periments. The  fourteen  year  old  boy  did  all  the 
work,  selected  the  seed  and  the  fertilizers,  planned 
himself,  under  the  advice  perhaps  of  his  teacher,  the 
method  of  cultivation  and'  at  the  end  of  the  year  this 
acre  of  land  which  had  been  yielding  about  forty 
bushels  of  corn  produced  one  hundred  and  thirty-six 
bushels.  This  old  German  farmer  said  to  me  that  he 
immediately  came  to  the  conclusion  that  if  his  four- 
teen year  old  boy  could  make  one  hundred  and  thirty- 
six  bushels  of  corn  on  an  acre  where  he  had  been 
making  only  forty  it  was  time  for  him  to  get  busy. 
He  said  that  as  an  experiment  he  took  the  boy  out 
of  school  for  a year  and  put  him  in  charge  of  the 
corn  growing  on  his  farm.  The  results  were  marvel- 
lous. In  six  years  the  average  yield  of  corn  on  this 
farm  has  increased  at  least  100%.  The  value  of  the 
farm  has  increased  equally  as  much.  The  boy,  so  the 
farmer  said,  would  graduate  next  year  from  the  Uni- 
versity of  Wisconsin  where  he  is  making  a specialty 
of  Agriculture  and  would  “come  back  to  the  farm.’’ 
This  farmer  stated  that  there  were  numerous  other 

7 


non-progressive  farmers  like  himself  among  his 
friends  who  had  gotten  inspiration  from  the  work 
done  by  the  boys  and  had  taken  hold  of  advanced 
methods  in  cultivation  of  corn  and  other  farm  prod- 
ucts. This  condition,  I was  told,  exists  in  almost 
every  corn  growing  state  and  has  been  largely 
brought  about  through  the  instrumentality  of  enthu- 
siastic members  of  Boys’  Corn  Clubs  or  similar  orga- 
nizations. 

Conditions  in  the  states  of  the  Middle  West  are 
somewhat  different  from  conditions  in  the  south. 
The  rural  schools,  the  high  schools,  the  agricultural 
schools  are  more  closely  articulated  and  con  elated 
with  the  universities  than  similar  schools  are  in  the 
south.  The  universities  place  greater  stress  upon 
every  endeavor  looking  to  the  increase  of  interest  io 
farm  life  and  farm  work. 

It  will  be  some  time  before  in  the  southern  states 
this  close  relationship  can  be  brought  to  fruition. 
It  must  come,  however.  It  will  come.  The  tendency  , 
of  the  present  thought  is  that  something  must  be  done 
to  get  out  of  the  soil,  which  nature  has  given  us,  the  ' 
best  that  there  is  in  it  and  to  make  the  farm  and 
farm  life  as  enjoyable  and  as  uplifting  as  city  life. 

The  work  of  the  National  Department  of  Agricul- 
ture is  tending  largely  along  this  line  and  through 
the  efforts  of  Dr.  Knapp  and  Mr.  Martin  numbers  of  : 
boys’  clubs  have  been  organized  in  Alabama  and  in  ■ 
the  southern  states.  I 

Nothing  but  good  can  come  from  this  work.  My . 
investigation  of  the  results  in  the  Middle  West  con- 
vince me  that  great  good  could  and  would  come  from 
it. 

The  State  Department  of  Education  of  Alabama  is 
encouraging  in  every  way  the  organization  of  these 
clubs  and  the  speakers  who  go  from  this  Department 
over  the  state  are  stressing  this  line  of  work. 


8 


1 


tiaylord  Bros. 
Makers 

Syracuse,  N.  Y 
pat.  JAN.  21,  1908 


